The present invention concerns bank note handling apparatus for use for example by a cashier in a supermarket. More specifically the invention concerns bank note handling apparatus which includes a bank note box which is inaccessible in operation and which is covered by a cover and is locked prior to being removed from its operating position so that it becomes impossible for an unauthorized person to open the bank note box when it has been removed from its position in the bank note handling apparatus. The bank note box can be unlocked with a key which is securely retained, for example in a safe in the office of the supermarket. The bank note box can to advantage be subdivided into a number of compartments corresponding to the number of possible bank note denominations and can be used in cooperation with a cash register.
Bank note handling apparatuses according to the state of the art are complicated and despite this their contents may be easily accessible if the cashier is subjected to a threat or a hold-up. Furthermore, bank note handling apparatuses according to the state of the art are often space consuming and unwieldy to work with. In the conventional case it may also be necessary to handle the bank notes twice if a security box which is used for reducing the volume and the value of bank notes which are retained in the cash box itself is utilized.
The closest known prior art is U.S. Pat. No. 5,695,038 which shows a drop safe for receiving and temporarily storing currency from a cash register. An entry device, such as a keypad, allows designated persons, such as cashiers or store managers, to deposit currency in the safe but not the general public. Deposits in the drop safe can be accepted in a number of acceptors that replace each other when a currency-receiving cassette in each individual acceptor is filled with bank notes. The cassettes are periodically removed from the drop safe by an armored-car driver or other authorized service person and replaced with empty cassettes. Bank notes in the cassettes have mixed denominations and there are no individual compartments for one single bank note denomination in each.
As further prior art the following patent specifications may be mentioned: U.S. Pat. No. 4,786,785, FR 2618993, U.S. Pat. No. 5,813,510, U.S. Pat. No. 5,427,036 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,615,759, respectively.